| Objective To explore the effect of Astragalus polysaccharide(APS) on cell proliferation and invasion of ovarian cancer cells by regulating caspase-1-mediated pyroptosis. Methods Ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells were cultured and treated with different concentrations of APS(25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1 600, 3 200 μg/mL) for 24 h. The cell survival rate was detected and the 50% inhibitory concentration(IC50) was calculated. The cells were divided into the control group(without drugs), low concentration of APS group(400 μg/mL), medium concentration of APS group(800 μg/mL) and high concentration of APS group(1 600 μg/mL), solvent control group(0.01% dimethyl sulfoxide), VX-765 group(10 μmol/L), solvent + high concentration APS group(0.01%DMSO and 1 600 μg/mL APS), VX-765+ high concentration APS group(10 μmol/L VX765 and 1 600 μg/mL APS). The survival rate, invasion number, and the protein expression level of cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase(caspase-1) and gasdermin-D protein N terminal(GSDMD-N), the concentrations of interleukin-1 β(IL-1β) and interleukin-18(IL-18) were detected. Results 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1 600, 3 200 μg/mL APS decreased the survival rate of SKOV3 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The invasion number of SKOV3 cells in low concentration, medium concentration and high concentration APS groups were lower than that in control group, and the protein expression levels of cleaved caspase-1 and GSDMD-N, the concentrations of IL-1β and IL-18 were higher than those in the control group(P<0.05). The survival rate and invasion number of SKOV3 cells in VX-765 group were not significantly different from those in the control group(P>0.05), and the protein expression levels of cleaved caspase-1 and GSDMD-N, the concentrations of IL-1β and IL-18 were lower than those in the control group(P<0.05). The survival rate and invasion number of SKOV3 cells in VX-765+high concentration APS group were higher than those in solvent + high concentration APS group, and the protein expression levels of cleaved caspase-1 and GSDMD-N, the concentrations of IL-1β and IL-18 were lower than those in solvent + high concentration APS group(P<0.05). Conclusion APS exerts inhibitory effect on the proliferation and invasion of ovarian cancer cells, which is related to the activation of caspase-1 mediated pyroptosis. |